16/11/2015 - Iceland's drama has taken the top prize at an awards ceremony that was largely a Latin American affair

The winners of the 2015 Thessaloniki Film Festival (© Ververidis Vasilis/Motionteam)

Grimur Hakonarson's sophomore fiction feature, Rams [+see also:
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interview: Grimur Hakonarson
film profile], has won the top prize at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, adding the gathering's Golden Alexander Award to the list of acclaim that the film has garnered since picking up the Un Certain Regard Award last May. The film follows two estranged elderly brothers, who are forced to overcome their animosity in order to save their livestock.

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Land and Shade [+see also:
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Acevedo's Colombian-French-Dutch-Chilean-Brazilian co-production was joined by neighbouring Argentinian-Dutch-Qatarian title Road to La Paz [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which brought newcomer Francisco Varone the Bronze Alexander, as well as Mexico's 600 Miles, for which Gabriel Ripstein won the Best Director Award to go along with his Berlinale Best First Film Award.

Co-produced by Greece, Germany and the USA, Micah Magee's Berlinale-screened Petting Zoo picked up the Best Actress Award for Devon Keller, while Alfredo Castro's work in the Golden Lion winner From Afar (Venezuela/Mexico) won him the Best Actor Award.

Runar Runarsson was handed the Artistic Achievement Award for Sparrows [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
interview: Rúnar Rúnarsson
film profile] (Iceland/Denmark/Croatia), while Mustang [+see also:
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interview: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
film profile] (Turkey/France/Germany/Qatar) won the Audience Award for a film in the Balkan Survey section, and US title Me and Earl and the Dying Girl picked up the same prize in the Open Horizons section.

In an unusual double win, Greek productions claimed both FIPRESCI prizes, with Giorgos Gkikapeppas' sophomore film Silent [+see also:
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film profile] (Greece) being tapped as best of show in the International Competition, and newcomer Joyce Nashawati's Blind Sun [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] (Greece/France) picking up the critics' award in the Greek Panorama. Local productions Chevalier [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] and Spring Awakening shared the Greek section's Audience Award.